India, April 16 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the use of Urdu on the signboard of a municipal council building in Akola district of Maharashtra, saying that "language belongs to a community, to a region, to people; and not to a religion".

The Supreme Court also stated that Urdu "is the finest specimen of "Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb", or the Hindustani tehzeeb".

A bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran rejected a plea by Varshatai Sanjay Bagade, a former councillor of Patur town, challenging the use of Urdu on the signboard of the municipal council of Patur.

Bagade moved the the apex court claiming that use of Urdu was impermissible under the Maharashtra Local Authorities (Official Languages) Act, 2022. The court, ho...